After this pandemic is over with (or at least sufficiently in the background of American life to warrant little comment), plan to go into a classroom and ask yourself, does this classroom have life?” That’s the key test of whether there’s any real learning going on. There could be fake learning going on, to be...Read More

Many educators and parents have been worrying that the interruption in school being experienced by so many students nationwide (and worldwide) as a result of COVID-19 will result in significant ”learning loss.”  That is, by not having previous learning reinforced, and by not adding new learning to their experience, students will backslide in their academic...Read More

I’m getting fed up with the term ”data-driven instruction” that I keep hearing and reading about in the educational media.  To help articulate exactly why the word conjures up such a disagreeable sensation in my gut, I’ve listed seven reasons why the word should be stricken from every educator’s vocabulary. ”Data-driven instruction” is a term...Read More

Spelling is part of the Common Core State Standards, but doesn’t receive much coverage in education journals.  Often teachers use the same old same old strategies to teach spelling skills, including:  use the word in a sentence, copy the word ten times, look it up in the dictionary, say the letters of the word as...Read More

About education:  here’s what I don’t understand.  On the one hand, you have the child – this incredibly wonderful organism that has had millions of years to evolve a beautifully complex brain designed to be naturally curious, playful, vital, creative, and joyful.  On the other hand, you have this amazing world:  exquisite life forms, unbelievable...Read More